Most architects don’t really seem to think about storage when they’re designing our houses.  Isn’t it rare to find a bathroom with storage in all the right places?  Still, we can generally add storage to create places for all the items we need to store.  A few ideas:

• I like “hooks” like the ones shown below, for hanging wash cloths in the shower.  (If you use scrubbies/poufs, actual hooks are probably a better bet.)
• Corner shelving, designed to go into the shower/tub corner, can give you a place to store all of the shampoo bottles and such, without taking up all of the space you need to stand in.
• If you are short on space in the shower/tub — especially if you have a lot of family members with their own products — consider not storing the toiletries in the tub.  Instead, give each person a (waterproof!) basket and a place to store the basket elsewhere.  (Also be sure there’s a place for a single basket to be set while someone is showering.  It’s kind of a nuisance to have to load/unload everything from the basket every time you take a shower.  It’s not a big deal to take the whole basket into the shower with you.)
• Use drawer dividers or small baskets/boxes in the drawers, and baskets or bins in cupboards.  Depending on the size of your cupboards, and what you have to store, you can even put self-contained drawer units inside the cupboards.
• If you don’t have cupboards and drawers, try adding shelves.  If that isn’t possible, either, baskets, cups, etc. can be placed directly on the counter.
• But if you do have enclosed storage spaces, try to keep the counters as clear as possible; it will make it easier to clean.
• Remember the principle of keeping the most-frequently-used items most accessible.  If you use your curling iron everyday, don’t bury it in the back corner of a cupboard (if you can help it).  If you use it twice a year, don’t give it the prime spot in the front of the most accessible drawer!

When it’s time to clean, basic cleaning tactics apply.  One trick, though, comes in where the shower curtain is concerned.  Unless you have a very cheap shower curtain, it can probably be laundered.  I throw a couple of towels in the bottom of the washer, then the shower curtain, then more towels.  (Don’t dry it in the dryer, though!)

If your shower head has a tendency to get scummy with hard water, soaking it in vinegar will help.  If it’s too much trouble to take off, pour the vinegar into a good plastic bag, and hang it around the shower head (using a rubber band to hold it in place) with the shower head submerged.  (We had horribly hard water at our last house — it was literally orange — and this really works!)

If you have any tips, tricks, or shortcuts for cleaning or organizing the bathroom, please share them in the comments!